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THE OTHER “F” WORD – Punk Rock Movie Review

The hardcore punk scene of the 70’s and 80’s trashed all the bloat of the classic rock bands of their time. Punk pioneers defied authority, pushing everything to the limit from their lyrics, dress, and attitude. Well, these same men who dominated the early punk rock era are now in their 40’s with wives and kids. The new F word – FATHERHOOD. Their focus today isn’t on rage and anarchy, it’s on getting their kids to soccer practice on time and balancing their tour schedule with family time.

Jim Lindberg from Pennywise (their biggest hit is F*** Authority), Flea from the RHCP, Ron Reyes (Black Flag), Mark Hoppus (Blink 182), Fat Mike (NOFX), even skateboard legend, Tony Hawk, share an insight into their current family situation. A telling interview with Art Alexakis from Everclear describes his familiar situation growing up with a deadbeat dad and a troubling broken home. These artists want to flip the script and not repeat these mistakes. Jim’s agony at leaving his beautiful young daughters to tour was painful to watch (accompanied by a great cover of Leaving On A Jet Plane) but the kids’ excitement at seeing dad on Skype or returning home from the tour was exhilarating.

Overall, the documentary was moving, enlightening, and an excellent behind the scenes look at the family life of rock stars. You could feel each guy’s love for his kids and their sincere hope to raise them the best way possible. It was fun to see Fat Mike in his spiked hair dropping his daughter off at her hoity-toity grade school and Jim teaching his daughters to sing acoustic clean versions of his punk anthems. Beware, the language is adult as expected but a brilliant documentary to check out!